Valeria Levitin, recognized as the world’s thinnest woman, weighs a mere four stone after enduring years of extreme dieting, a stark contrast to her healthy weight range. Standing at 5ft 8in, she should ideally weigh between 9 and 12 stone, according to NHS guidelines. Despite her frail appearance, Levitin urges girls not to aspire to such thinness, emphasizing the need for a serious wake-up call.
Originally from Russia and now residing in Monaco, Levitin highlights a troubling trend: receiving fan mail from girls eager to emulate her skeletal appearance.
Speaking to The Sun, the 39-year-old shares, “I have received emails from young girls who want me to teach them how to be like me. All the letters I’ve had are from women, mainly in their twenties, who see me as some kind of inspiration.”
In response, she bravely addresses her condition, actively campaigning against anorexia. Valeria Levitin firmly refuses to provide guidance on a path she believes leads to self-destruction.
Having battled an eating disorder since adolescence, Valeria decided to publicly discuss the profound impact the illness has had on her life. She aims to share her journey to dissuade others from following a similar path, emphasizing that anorexia has left her feeling “lonely, unattractive, and repulsive to the people around me.”
Her struggle began in early childhood due to her mother’s fear that Valeria might become obese like other family members, leading to strict dietary restrictions. Her mother’s relentless pursuit of perfection meant she closely monitored Valeria’s weight to ensure she didn’t gain.
At 16, weighing 10 stone, Valeria moved to Chicago with her parents. Eager to fit into a new school environment, she believed losing weight would help her gain acceptance and popularity. She intensified her diet, eliminating sugar and carbohydrates from her meals.
Ironically, after abstaining from certain foods for so long, her body became intolerant to them. A hurtful comment from a classmate further fueled her determination to lose weight. “We were playing football, and during the game a man said, ‘I know how we can win. We need to put Valeria’s big ar*e in the goal.’ It shattered my whole world,” she recalled.
By age 23, Valeria’s dress size had dropped drastically from a healthy size 12 to a petite size 6. Pursuing a modeling career worsened her struggles, as she was told she was still too fat to succeed. By 24, weighing a mere six stone, she was prohibited from dancing due to the risk of injury.
Over the next decade, Valeria consulted over 30 health specialists, experiencing a perilous low of 3st 10lbs. Despite a desire for certain foods today, she cannot consume them due to their adverse effects on her body. She has abstained from bread for so long that she can’t recall its taste.
Her condition has cast a shadow of loneliness over her life. Unattached for ten years, Valeria finds relationships challenging, unable to partake in typical couple activities like dining out. Despite numerous specialist visits, she believes a conventional doctor’s intervention is necessary for a cure, noting no weight gain thus far.
Valeria now relies on supplements to mitigate the risk of bruising and avoids situations that may lead to falls. She contemplates returning to Moscow, where she feels more in tune with herself, to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a mother through surrogacy.
She hopes the desire for a child will catalyze her recovery. Achieving good health is a goal she believes she can attain while working towards motherhood. Expressing her desire for a family, Valeria said, “I would love to have a family because I feel I have so much to give. But obviously, it wouldn’t be right to have a baby when I am ill. It wouldn’t be fair to the child. I want to stand up to anorexia. I’ve never given up on anything in my life and I’m not about to give up now.”